


All the right reasons

by killerweasel



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 07:43:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2101290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lorne brings someone unexpected into Lindsey's new life and nothing will be the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All the right reasons

Title: All the right reasons  
Fandom: Angel  
Characters: Lindsey McDonald, Cordelia Chase, Lorne  
Word Count: 3,229  
Rating: PG-13  
Warnings/Spoilers: AU after _Dead End_  
Summary: Lorne brings someone unexpected into Lindsey's new life and nothing will be the same.

I was out in the yard fixing the broken fence when I heard a car coming down the dirt road towards the house. Since this place was so far out of the way that it didn’t even show up on any known map, I knew my guests had finally arrived. I swiped at the sweat running down my face. My jaw dropped a little after the passenger door opened. When Lorne spoke with me on the phone and mentioned he had a friend who needed my help, she was the last person I expected.

Judging by the look on Cordelia’s face, she hadn’t known about me either. She whirled around and began to talk rapidly to Lorne who gave me a little wave. Whatever he said in reply made her hands go up in exasperation. I waited until she didn’t look like she wanted to smack something with one of her shoes before I walked over to the car.

“It’s nice to see you, gumdrop.” Lorne started to shift closer to me and paused. “I’d hug you, but you’re a little...” He gestured at the sweat on my skin. “Oh, screw it.” Lorne wrapped his arms around me. I heard him whisper how much he’d missed my face. There was a grin on my face after he pulled away.

When I turned my body, I noticed that Cordelia was staring at me. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. Seeing her speechless was rather amusing. “I think she’s admiring the body art, cupcake.” He nudged her in the ribs. “Or maybe the body attached to the art.”

“Lorne!” Even though she swatted his shoulder, I could tell there was no real anger behind it. “Don’t pay any attention to him. I was just a little surprised to see you.”

“I’m a little surprised to see you too.” And where the hell were my manners? “Come inside, I’ll get you set up in the spare rooms and then you guys can explain why you’re here.”

\---

At first Cordelia seemed reluctant to tell me about what had been happening. Lorne held onto her hand, giving it a squeeze every time she paused. I listened as she explained how she’d been given the visions from Doyle right before he’d died. I already knew bits and pieces of that story from when I’d still worked for the firm. What I hadn’t known about, and what made a knot form in my stomach was the fact the visions were seriously starting to take a toll on her body.

“You need to show him, princess.” When she shook her head, Lorne looked at me. “Lindsey, will you show her why you got that ink in your skin?”

A flush rose up my neck until my cheeks felt like they were on fire. “Uh... it’s not exactly something I like the world to know about, Lorne.”

Cordelia’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Okay, now I _have_ to see.”

Crap. I muttered something under my breath as I stood up. My hands went to the belt of my pants and I thought her eyes were going to pop right out of her head. I rolled my eyes. “You know, for one of the good guys, you have a dirty mind.” Lorne snickered. For a very brief second, I thought I heard my mama’s voice saying something about ‘always make sure you have clean underwear’. After my pants slid down to the floor, I turned around. I heard both of them suck in a breath as they saw the scars on the backs of my legs.

“The firm’s goons caught up with me outside of Reno. The scars are from the claws of Rehtnap demons. Think raptors only slightly human-looking.” I tugged my pants back up and sat down on the chair. “I got a couple of them before they took me down and then they shredded my legs to hell and back. They left me on the sand to die. And I almost did.” The last thing I could remember from that night was how bright the stars had seemed in the darkness.

“I woke up three days later inside a house with a demon I’d never seen before taking care of my injuries. He said he’d found me while he was looking for some plant he needed for a certain kind of medicine.” All those years of studying various demon languages for the firm had finally paid off. He’d seemed a bit shocked when I replied in his own tongue and then smiled, showing off a lot of very pointed teeth. “He wanted to know how I’d ended up like that and after I explained the situation, his eyes narrowed.”

The look on his face had sent waves of fear through me before I realized it wasn’t directed at me. “It turned out that he and the Senior Partners knew each other a very long time ago.” I think his exact words were ‘before humans plagued the earth’, but they didn’t need to know that. “Since he’s not a fan of them, he told me he’d help me vanish. I had to heal first because the process was beyond painful, but until I did, he’d make sure they couldn’t find me.”

My fingers traced the largest of the symbols on my chest while I thought about the tattooing process. If he hadn’t shoved a piece of leather between my teeth, I probably would have bitten off my tongue or screamed until I damaged my throat. It had been a combination of magic, some kind of powder, and his blood.

When I picked my chin up, Cordelia was unbuttoning her shirt. She let it slip from her shoulders and then twisted her body a little until I could see a series of fresh claw marks on her back. “At first it was just sights, smells, and sounds with the visions, like I was experiencing it myself. The headaches were nasty, but painkillers usually worked. At least they did in the beginning. Then it got worse.” She chewed on her bottom lip.

Lorne put his arm around her neck. “We didn’t know what it was doing to her. Angel still doesn’t know.”

I was willing to bet that Angel would place the blame on his own shoulders when it came to the visions since they were designed to help him get some sort of redemption. “So those marks?”

“Three days ago, I had a vision about a girl being torn to pieces by these nasty demons. As their claws sliced her flesh, they sliced mine too. I don’t know what to do. This never happened to Doyle.” She tugged her shirt back up. “The pain in my head never seems to go away. I think this is killing me.”

“Can this demon help her?”

I rubbed my temple. “He’s incredibly powerful and if he can’t do it, he’ll be able to find someone who can. The only trouble is he won’t be back in the country for a couple of weeks. He’s meeting with some other members of his clan over in Nepal.” They were just as old as him and when I’d healed from the tattoos, he’d taken me with him the last time around so they could meet with the only human he’d ever helped.

Lorne looked a bit distressed by this bit of information. “I can’t stay here that long, Ricardo is in charge of Caritas while I’m gone and while he can make a sea breeze that’ll make a man weep, he can’t run the place for more than a couple of days before he freaks out.” He gave Cordelia’s hand a squeeze. “Are you going to be okay, princess?”

She nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be able to keep his evil hand to himself.” I snorted at that thought which made her give me a glare.

\---

The first week went by smoothly. I’d been alone for so long that it took me a couple of days to get used to having someone else in the house. The only things I knew about her were from files I’d read back at Wolfram and Hart, which is fine when you want a general idea about someone, but words on paper never showed you who someone really was.

I was putting dinner on the table when she let out a half-strangled noise, clutched her head and started to collapse. The food fell from my hands as I managed to grab her before she hit the floor. I’d never seen her have a vision before and it was a rather frightening thing to watch. A gash appeared on her arm and I recognized the marks left by the claws because they matched the scars on my legs.

By the time the vision ended, she was shaking like a leaf and I’d pressed my shirt against the wound to slow the bleeding. “I have to... call Angel. They’re going to kill some children.”

“Don’t move. I’ll get the phone.” I put her hand on top of the makeshift bandage. She was very pale when I pressed the phone into her hand. “What can I do to help?”

“Painkillers would be nice.” She started dialing and stopped after the fourth number. “I’m not going to tell him I’m with you. You two aren’t exactly best buddies.”

That was the understatement of the year. As I left the room, she began to talk. I grabbed what she’d asked for and some real bandages to take care of the wound. How in the hell had she managed to keep this hidden from her friends? Angel had to be able to smell the blood, unless she came up with some other explanation for it or he pretended not to notice.

I really wanted to ask her how Lorne had found out. Maybe she’d had a vision at Caritas and he’d seen it with his own eyes or maybe she’d sung something. Either way, I really hoped the demon I knew would be able to help her before it was too late.

My touches were gentle as I applied the bandages. Just as I finished, Cordelia slumped forward. She murmured something about her head hurting. I picked her up in my arms and carried her to the spare room she was staying in. When she didn’t move as her head touched the pillow, I decided not to leave the room and ended up on the bed next to her.

I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew, her hands were on my shoulders and she was pushing me backwards. “Do you always kiss people in your sleep, Lindsey?”

“I...” I’d done what? My tongue flicked out, wetting my lower lip and her eyes followed the movement. “I must have just rolled over and bumped into you or something.”

“Yeah, right.” She snorted. “Keep all of your body parts, including lips, evil hands, and anything else away from mine.”

I propped my head up on my hand. “Are you feeling better? You passed out in the kitchen.”

“I’ve had worse.” She sighed.

I got up from the bed. “If you need anything, holler. I’ll be cleaning up the mess in the kitchen.”

“Could you bring me something to eat?”

“No problem.”

\---

Three days later we were standing outside of a small wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere. The demon motioned for us to enter. Once inside, I knelt down on the dusty floor and slowly lowered my forehead until it was touching the ground. Glancing to my left, I saw Cordelia do the same thing. The demon in front of us tapped me on the shoulder, indicating I could rise, before repeating the action on her. Then he began to speak in his native language, pausing every once in a while so I could translate what he was saying.

“He says he knows why you’re here and he will help you with whatever decision you choose. There are three options. He says you can get the same type of marks in your skin as I have. They’ll not only block the messages sent from the Powers, which will grant you a much longer life, but will give you the strength of a slayer to help you continue to fight on the path you now walk.” The ink in my skin seemed to burn while he spoke as if it was reaction to his own magic.

“The reason the visions are getting stronger to the point where they are harming your body is because unlike the man who had them before, you have no demon blood in your veins.” I wondered if Doyle had had any idea what the visions would do to her in the long run. “There is a process, a blending of the blood, which will make you more than you are. You won’t be human any longer; you’ll be something... else. But you’ll keep the gift the Powers have granted.”

I kept my eyes on the demon while he spoke and didn’t look in Cordelia’s direction until I felt her hand on my thigh. She gave it a tiny squeeze and I could feel her body trembling. Reaching out, I set my hand on top of hers. “Or, you could let things stay as they are until...” I blinked and asked him to explain again. This time he included a gesture that looked like the top of his skull had just come off. I heard Cordelia suck in a breath. “Until your skull explodes.”

For a moment, we sat there in silence. When Cordelia spoke, it was barely above a whisper. “Really great bunch of choices, isn’t it? How am I supposed to know which one is the right one?”

“It’s your life, Cordelia. I can’t tell you which one to go with. I do know that if you don’t do something soon, that you’ll be dead and that’ll shred Angel to pieces.” I’d seen him snap before and I didn’t doubt that her death would send him completely over the edge.

She took a couple of deep breaths before giving me a smile. “I want to keep the visions. Doyle gave them to me for a reason and we’ve helped a lot of people as a result.”

“All right.” I told the demon what she’d picked and he started to get things ready. We watching him spread a straw mat on the floor. He chanted something as he grabbed a bowl that looked older than I was. Then he murmured in my direction. My eyes widened. “He says he’s going to have to cut your arm to blend your blood with his. It’s going to hurt a lot and might kill you in the process. Are you still willing to go through with this?”

“If I don’t, I’m going to end up dead anyway.” She held her arm out above the mat and waited.

The knife seemed to appear from nowhere and the blade looked very similar to the scythe Angel had used on my hand. I shuddered as the tip sliced down her arm. Cordelia’s teeth sank into her lower lip while she tried not to cry out. By the time the demon was finished, there was a design etched into her flesh. Blood dripped from the wounds onto the straw mat, staining it with fresh crimson.

Cordelia’s hand had tightened on my thigh to the point where I could feel her nails tearing into my skin. I carefully pried her fingers loose before wrapping my hand around her own. The demon began to chant loudly and I could feel magic building up in the room until the air was practically humming. Then he sliced open his chest. There was something that sounded like a roar as he pressed Cordelia’s arm to his body. All of the lights in the room went out and I heard her scream.

It seemed like an eternity before the lights flickered back to life. Both Cordelia and the mage were lying still on the floor. I pressed my fingers against her throat to hunt for a pulse. When I didn’t find one, I started to perform CPR. “Come on, damn it! You didn’t put yourself through this just to die now.”

The demon stirred beside me. He clutched his chest and muttered something. “What the hell do you mean ‘that wasn’t supposed to happen’?”

My lips met Cordelia’s and I suddenly found myself flying across the room. The impact as my back met the wall was hard enough to not only knock the wind out of me, but make the world momentarily swirl around. I wasn’t even sure what had just happened. Then Cordelia’s eyes shot open. A chill went down my spine as I realized they matched the ones inside of the demon’s skull.

“I told you to keep those lips of yours off mine.” Cordelia pressed the heel of her hand against her temple. “Did I do that?”

A weird chittering sound reached my ears. Tilting my head, I saw the demon laughing his ancient ass off. He managed to get a few words out between fits of laughter. “He says that’s one of the side effects and if you end up with horns or a tail, it isn’t his fault.”

“Wait a second. No one said anything about horns or a tail!” She stood up slowly, swaying slightly on her feet.

I’m not sure which of us were more surprised by what happened next. Cordelia rose off of the floor until she was almost a foot in the air. It took me a minute to get to my feet and when I reached her side, I reached out to take her hand. “Are you okay?”

“Other than feeling a little floaty, I’m fine.” She smiled at me. “Now tell him to figure out how I can get down.”

\---

She didn’t have a vision until two days later. Even though it was still powerful, the after effects, like the blinding headaches, never showed up. At least we knew the demon’s spell had been a success. Cordelia’s fingers trailed gently over the scars on her arm while she waited for someone on the other end of the phone to pick up.

I straightened things that didn’t even need cleaning while Cordelia talked to Angel on the phone so he could go save some random person from killer squids. As far as Angel knew, she’d gone to see a friend of Lorne’s; there’d been no mention of me at all. That was fine by me because I don’t think he would have appreciated my assistance in the matter. We might have parted on okay terms, but too much blood had been spilled between us.

“I’m going to head back to Los Angeles soon.” Her hand curled around my arm, giving it a light squeeze. “Angel said Lorne is on his way.”

I wasn’t thinking about how empty the house was going to seem without anyone else in it and I also wasn’t dwelling on the fact that she looked pretty damn good in my t-shirt. “You’re always welcome here. You know that, right?”

“I know.” She took a step closer and kissed me on the cheek. “You’re a good man, Lindsey. Promise me you’ll never forget that.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”


End file.
